Be Diligent

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, he overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber,  a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

Proverbs 6: 6 – 11

Lord, I thank you that I don’t sleep for emotional reasons – to escape my responsibilities or to indulge my yearning for comfort.   I invite you to bring your wisdom and conviction to bear on my sleep habits. I want to be well balanced in the area of sleep, because I know my adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour…. or someone to lull to sleep.  Lord, be my alarm clock.  Wake me morning by morning, inviting me to spend the day with you. Amen.

You don’t have to run yourself ragged to please God, but he does call us to hard work and diligence.  Like the Proverbs 31 woman, we should work with eager, not reluctant, hands.  Even if you have a job outside the home.  You are your own boss when it comes to running your household.  The easiest thing in the world is to become lackadaisical; the hardest is to stay focused and on task. 

God promises that if we ask for wisdom, he will answer without finding fault.  Ask him to show you the right amount of sleep for you.  When you’ve had your sleep, get up and get going so you can work with eager hands to bring good, not harm, to those you love.

Affirmation:  I am diligent like the ant.  I consider its ways and grow wise.

Set your alarm for seven hours.  When the alarm goes off (or if you awaken having had a reasonable amount of sleep), get up and get going.  Try this for a week.  Then adjust fifteen minutes upward or downward, depending on your energy level, until you determine the ideal number of sleep hours for you.

Make it an adventure to see how many mornings you can awake before your alarm goes off.  God will do this for you.  Let God prove himself faithful to awaken you morning by morning.  Set your alarm as a backup, but don’t rely on it.  When you awake, don’t lie there waiting for the alarm to ring.  Get up and get going.  When it rings, go turn it off and praise God for the jumpstart you’ve had on the day.  Reflect on all the tranquil experiences.